#Who was the bombadier on the enola gay plus#
James Martin served in the Marine Corps and is the founder of the 60 Plus Association, a non-partisan seniors advocacy group. One can thoughtfully reflect on the awful destructive power of the atomic bomb while understanding the indispensable role it played in world history. No contrition is needed for an act that preserved hundreds of thousands of lives. No apology is necessary for sparing Japan the unspeakable horror of an invasion. These are the lessons the president should have carried with him to Hiroshima.
God willing, wise men will continue to prevail. Since then, the United States and other nations have reduced their stockpiles of nuclear warheads.
6, and they were near the surface of his consciousness in all the years after.ĭuring the 71 years since Hiroshima, the world has occasionally marched toward the nuclear abyss before wise men decided against the annihilation that attends the use of such weapons. These facts were not far from my uncle’s mind that Aug. The alternative to Hiroshima would have been one of the bloodiest, if not the bloodiest, slaughters in human history. But tragic as the bombing of Hiroshima was, it was also necessary. Enola Gay Facts - 32: Staff Sergeant Wyatt Duzenbury was the Flight Engineer who was assigned to monitor the aircraft's engines and electronic systems. With Billy Crystal, Kim Darby, Patrick Duffy, Gary Frank. The power unleashed by the splitting of the atom was monumental. Enola Gay Facts - 31: Major Thomas Ferebee (Novem March 16, 2000), a Bombardier was the crew member who pushed the button that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. Enola Gay: The Men, the Mission, the Atomic Bomb: Directed by David Lowell Rich. The nuclear attack on Hiroshima was terrible. Dropping the Bomb: Stories from the Enola Gay. In addition to combat casualties, the more than 27,000 American POWs held by Japan were subject to immediate execution should the U.S. The Joint Chiefs of Staff estimated as many as 134,556 dead and missing Americans.Ī study for the office of War Secretary Henry Stimson put the figure at 400,000 to 800,000 dead GIs, with Japanese fatalities reckoned between 5 million to 10 million military personnel and civilians. For months before the bombing, the War Department had been preparing for an invasion of Japan, the planning for which included casualty figures. Four days after that bomb destroyed Hiroshima, Japan offered its surrender. He took pride in the critical job he performed in bringing the war to an end. Though he is distinguished in his hometown of Mocksville, N.C., he was occasionally accused of having blood on his hands. As the bombardier, peering through his Norden bombsight, he was the last man to see Hiroshima in any detail before it was leveled, making his perspective on the event somewhat unique. Tom Ferebee, was the bombardier aboard the Enola Gay, the B-29 that dropped the first atomic bomb and ushered in the nuclear age.Īs President Obama visited Hiroshima on Friday, I recalled my uncle’s personal reflections.
Hundreds of thousands were spared because of President Truman’s order to attack Hiroshima on Aug. ISBN 0-8094-3429-6.Salon columnist Camille Paglia, answering a letter from a reader, explained that her father and his Army unit, which was slated for an invasion of Japan, were “spared from certain decimation by the two atomic bombs and Japan’s surrender.” Virginia Beach, Virginia: Time-Life Books, 1982. Ramsbury, Marlborough, Wiltshire, United Kingdom: Crowood Press, 2003. National Museum B-29 Superfortress Official Fact Sheet] Access date: 11 August 2007.Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, 2004. The B-29 Superfortress: A Comprehensive Registry of the Planes and Their Missions. Paul, Minnesota: Motorbooks International, 1999. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, 2005 ISBN 0-7864-2139-8. The Silverplate Bombers: A History and Registry of the Enola Gay and Other B-29s Configured to Carry Atomic Bombs. Stillwater, Minnesota: Voyageur Press, 1999. Baugher's Encyclopedia of American Aircraft Access date: 4 November 2007.